One of two men charged with joining former football star Darren Sharper in a scheme to drug and sexually assault women agreed Monday to plead guilty in New Orleans federal court, while the other man moved forward with selecting a jury to hear the case against him. In exchange for a 10-year prison sentence, Erik Nunez told U.S. District Judge Jane Triche Milazzo that he was guilty of a federal conspiracy to distribute drugs with the… Continue reading →_

Louisiana Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain is flying out of New Orleans on Tuesday morning as the head of a 94-member trade mission to Cuba. The goal of the weeklong trip is to begin the agreements that will lead to Louisiana exporting rice, poultry and grains to the communist nation. President Barack Obama recently eased dealings with the country after a half-century of tense relations. “It’s important that we get our boots on the ground,” Strain… Continue reading →_

Gale Wiggins was not the type to let strangers into her house, according to those who knew her best. The 68-year-old woman rarely unlocked the door to her half of a white double shotgun house in Hollygrove. From time to time, even her son had to persuade her to let him in the house, he said. So when a neighbor saw Wiggins’ screen door open Sunday, she knew something was wrong. In addition, Wiggins, a… Continue reading →_

Two years after the French Market Corp. canceled a controversial deal with a private firm to manage three city-owned parking lots and auditors accused that contractor of overbilling the city agency, the French Market is seeking in court to recoup what it says it lost. Meanwhile, that same contractor, SP Plus Corp., continues to collect cash from Mayor Mitch Landrieu’s administration under a separate contract it received months after auditors questioned its dealings with the French… Continue reading →_

Police officers spotted the butt of a handgun in Alton Sterling’s front pocket and saw him reach for the weapon before opening fire, according to a Baton Rouge Police Department search warrant filed Monday that offers the first police account of the events leading up to Sterling’s fatal shooting. Two officers, since identified as Blane Salamoni and Howie Lake II, arrived at the Triple S Food Mart on North Foster Drive about 12:30 a.m. July 5… Continue reading →_

Shifting away from the anti-Washington rhetoric that, so far, has dominated the U.S. Senate race in Louisiana, Democratic candidate Foster Campbell said Monday he supports a lot of the frequently maligned government programs because they help everyday people. “When Lyndon Johnson passed Medicare, you remember, ‘oooh, you pass Medicare, you’re going to break everybody, socialize all of medicine,’ ” Louisiana Public Service Commissioner Campbell told the Press Club of Baton Rouge. “Find me somebody now who… Continue reading →_

A new federal lawsuit seeking to block the removal of monuments to Confederate officials in New Orleans argues that the city unfairly discriminated against a Tulane University professor by not seriously considering his argument that if those statues come down, the Andrew Jackson statue in Jackson Square must go as well. The suit, filed by Richard Marksbury last week, presents another legal hurdle for the city’s efforts to take down the statues of Gen. Robert E.… Continue reading →_

Funeral services Funeral services for Alton Sterling will be held Friday at Southern University’s F. G. Clark Activity Center, Southern University announced. A viewing will be from 8 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. and the funeral will be at 11 a.m. Funeral Director Trencia Henderson, of Carney and Mackey Funeral Home of Baton Rouge, said all services are open to the public.… Continue reading →_

HOOVER, Ala. — Southeastern Conference Commissioner Greg Sankey wasted no time in his opening remarks Monday at SEC football media days addressing the shootings of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, a motorist in Minnesota and five police officers in Dallas last week. “Last Monday, we, as a nation, celebrated Independence Day,” Sankey said. “Parades, field days and fireworks provided gatherings that are special that bring people together in America. “One week seems like… Continue reading →_

Kira Marrero walked out of East Baton Rouge Parish Prison at 3 p.m. Sunday, about 17 hours after she was arrested during a protest over the killing of Alton Sterling. Hugging her dad then talking with media, 22-year-old Marrero said that as she took part in the protest along Airline Highway in front of Baton Rouge Police headquarters, officers were pointing guns at her even though she was off the road and on… Continue reading →_

A push that may produce the most sweeping changes in Louisiana’s roads and bridges in nearly 30 years gets underway Tuesday. A transportation task force named by Gov. John Bel Edwards is set to hold its first meeting. Six months later, it is supposed to make recommendations for the 2017 Legislature. Legislative, industry and business leaders are on the panel, which means any agreement also backed by Edwards stands a good chance of… Continue reading →_

What began Sunday as a peaceful march over the death of Alton Sterling turned into a standoff in downtown Baton Rouge between officers threatening to gas the crowds and protesters throwing debris at police. For at least three hours, officers and protesters were locked in an intense confrontation that occasionally erupted into skirmishes at the corner of East Boulevard and Government Street. At least 48 people were arrested. More than 100 officers circled the… Continue reading →_

People arrested for marijuana offenses in New Orleans are overwhelmingly black, and the racial disparity in enforcement is even more pronounced in felony cases, according to a new study conducted by the Vera Institute of Justice. Over a five-year period, more than three-quarters of the people arrested or given a summons for marijuana possession in the city were black, as were almost all of those who were arrested on a felony charge for… Continue reading →_

The nightly clashes over the fatal shooting of Alton Sterling have grown more tense, with police tackling protesters, arresting scores and using an armored vehicle to block demonstrators ­— prompting many to claim they’re being thrown in jail for simply exercising their rights. But officials on Sunday said the more muscular response has prevented key roadways from being blocked. Authorities are drawing a hard line at maintaining traffic on the critical arteries that protesters have tried to… Continue reading →_

Accused child killer Chelsea Thornton sat quietly last week in the jury box of an Orleans Parish courtroom, where nothing happened with her case. It’s been like that for nearly two years. Thornton faces a pair of first-degree murder charges for killing her two young children in their rat- and roach-infested Gert Town apartment on Oct. 17, 2012. The death penalty remains on the table, a spokesman for District Attorney Leon Cannizzaro’s… Continue reading →_

The second Saturday in July at City Park can only mean one thing: The place is crawling with Mercadels — or Mercadals, depending on which version of the family name the hundreds of descendants of Frank and Marie (or Mary) Mercadal use. The “official” spelling was changed to Mercadel somewhere along the line, but not all of the couple’s 16 children and their offspring chose to adopt it. Either way, the Mercadals’ unlikely union in… Continue reading →_

Neighbors said that something that sounded like a bomb went off in their Gentilly Terrace neighborhood this morning, causing a two-alarm fire and incinerating a house on Jasmine Street. It’s been a rough week for the 2600 block of Jasmine Street, which is bounded by Franklin Avenue and Lotus Street. On Thursday afternoon, after neighbors heard gunshots, officers discovered Kevin Foots Sr., 55, inside a house on the block, suffering from gunshot wounds to the leg and chest. Foots was taken… Continue reading →_